I think this might be the first time I wrote two food posts in a row, but I was just so inspired by the success of these galettes and … since they’re hot off the grill, I thought I’d share the recipe with you.
What is a galette, you might ask?
It is a crèpe from Bretagne (Brittany) that is made of buckwheat. In fact if you say « galette » one is expecting it to be salty and served as a main course and that it will be made from buckwheat and that there will be no milk involved in the making. A crèpe tends to be slightly thinner (more liquidy batter) and is more likely to be served sweet than a galette.
I got this recipe from my dear friend Alberte (it’s a girl, pronounced All-bear-t) who is a much better cook than I am (which I admitted sadly to her husband, before perking right up again because I realized I was about to eat some of her food).
Take 250 grams of buckwheat flour, about 1 1/2 cups.
form a well and put the egg yolk in (the white goes in another bowl).
Mix it, dry as it is.
before adding 2 cups of water slowly until it’s fluid.
Then add a pinch of salt to the egg white
plus a pinch of white pepper before beating it together.
Guess who wanted to jump in to help?
Limbs akimbo. Yes, it was just as chaotic as this picture portrays.
When the whites are stiff, add 2 teaspoons of regular or gluten-free flour into the whites as you’re mixing.
Then add 2 teaspoons olive oil
Mix it, 
then take that mixture and add it to the first mixture with buckwheat.
Melange. (That means mix). Again.
Let it sit covered for an hour, room temperature. See the difference between this
and this?
Besides the lighting, I might add. Maybe when I’m more organized I’ll be able to get away with doing all my cooking posts in the daytime like I’m supposed to, instead of suffering through bad lighting at night.
Anyway, the mixture is more airy with a few bubbles. You can let the batter sit out for another hour or so if you want; it will only be better. When you’re ready to make the galettes, add another ½ cup of water if you need it – you probably will – to liquify the batter and make it easier to pour.
If you don’t have a crepe pan, you’ll at least need a very flat pan with a good non-stick surface. Pour some oil in a small dish and put a paper towel in it. This is to grease the pan – you can wipe the oil on the surface with the paper towel without getting as much oil as if you had poured it on.
It will take about 2 ladles full of batter to make one large galette.
I finally figured out that this little gadget was to spread the batter evenly. Duh.
After a couple of minutes, flip the galette and cook on the other side. See the texture and color? This is characteristic of a buckwheat galette. There are little “bubbles” (although I should mention that if the bubbles are large enough that there are holes in the galette, it probably means your pan is too hot).
This batter makes about 5-6 galettes. Make all of them at once and get ready for the second step. Before we proceed, this is probably a good place to say that there are a zillion fillings you can do – ham, cheese, bacon, chicken, onions, salmon, mushrooms, crème fraiche – even lemon and honey if you have a leftover galette and you want something sweet! I’m showing just one of the combinations here.
Melt some butter
Put the galette on, brown(er) side face down
Put grated swiss in little circle with an egg in the middle
(I have a warped pan and the egg slides all over the place when I don’t do that).
Add some tomatoes and salt and cook it til it looks like this.
It’s better to cook it on low to medium heat so that the egg cooks well and the cheese melts but the bottom doesn’t burn. When it’s all brown and crispy your galette is done. You can fold it three ways. You can fold a third in towards the center …
… and the other third in to make a wrap.
You can fold all four edges slightly in while leaving a hole in the middle of the square to see the scrumptious filling.
(This way is my favorite).
Or you can fold it in half
and then fold it in half again.
Like a kerchief!
It really doesn’t matter.
It will soon be gone anyway.
- 1.5 cups buckwheat
- 1 egg, separated
- 2 teaspoons flour
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 cups water
- pinch of salt
- pinch of white pepper
- Place the buckwheat flour in a bowl and form a well.
- Separate the egg and put the yolk in the well of flour.
- Mix those together and add the water, continuing to mix.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg white.
- Add a pinch of salt and pepper and beat some more.
- Add the 2 t regular or GF flour.
- Mix then add the olive oil before mixing again.
- Add the egg white mix to the buckwheat mix and blend again.
- Let it sit covered and room temperature for an hour or so.
- Pour 2 ladle-full of batter on a hot crèpe pan and spread to make one galette.
Looks delish! And I love to make crepes too!
Please let me know if you try this (and like it).
YUM!
I am way not skilled enough to make this….
I know I promised all sorts of easy French recipes and I haven’t exactly been sticking to that. (gulp)
That does look delicious, wish I had more patience to do 2 mixtures, let it sit for an hour to two then make a filling 🙂 Can I come over for dinner?
Sure! Just need a little thing like a plane ticket first.
I want to come live in your kitchen.
Aw Tracie, what a sweet thing to say!
Well Done You Master Chef You!
(grin)
I love crepes, but have never made them with buckwheat or put an egg inside. I’ll have to look for buckwheat the next time I go shopping.
Let me know if your family likes this version. 🙂
Yum! As much as I like crepes and galettes, I’ve never attempted to make them. Thanks for making it look relatively easy … I might work up the courage to try it! =>
I’m glad you think it’s easy. I thought it was too, as long as you have the right pan.
Oh, yum. We love making crepes here (even though I never do very well with that little scraper thingy), but haven’t made buckwheat ones in quite awhile. Thanks for the idea for a delicious-sounding weekend project!
Let me know if everyone likes this version.
Wow, hats off to you! I usually cheat and by the pre-made ones in the store, sweet & salty =)
That’s because you can get the good stuff firsthand! 🙂
I grew up on crepes, but we called them rollie pollies and they were always a breakfast treat with butter and powdered sugar. I will have to show this post to my kids as they are as crazy about crepes as I am. I would like to try buckwheat flour, sounds good to me.
It’s quite healthy. Oh, except for all the butter. If you’re a crèpe lover, it is good to have them for dinner instead of dessert (or breakfast).
“If you don’t have a crepe pan…”
Oh dear.
I’m going to need some help with these galettes.
Probably.
(psst. secret. I went out and bought a crèpe pan especially for this post).
Oh, I love galettes. We used to put our crepe maker in the middle of our kitchen table with bowls of different meats, cheeses, and veggies around to let friends make their own. Now I’m craving a galette … with a big glass of cider too, of course!
I haven’t tried cooking the galette with filling yet. I just used it for the actual galette. But what a fun idea! You can do that where you are now and wow everyone because it’s unique to France (I think – the recipe).
Looks so good and I haven’t had crepes in ages. Now I have to go steal my mom’s crepe maker.
Oh yes and let me know if you like it!
Someone is a better cook than you? I don’t believe it.
You are SO sweet for saying that, but sadly it’s true. 😉
This brings back good memories of being in Bretagne. I’m not nearly skilled enough to make these, so I’ll fix them vicariously through you. 🙂
“Limbs akimbo” I love it!
The truth is that I’ve never had a crepe…nor have I had a buckwheat one. When I was in France I simply couldn’t stop eating the bread long enough to indulge in a crepe! These look delicious though…you are an amazing cook Jennie!
And let’s be honest here. I barely have a frying pan, nevermind a crepe pan. 🙂
I prefer galettes to crepes (although my hubby makes awesome crepes) but as I get older I like more savory compared to sweet.
Mouth.Watering.
WOW. Now can we talk about me find buckwheat flour here, about my silly electric stove (with all the burners not exactly flat but slanted every so slightly so that things run into the edges of the pan?) … deep sigh. I envy you getting to eat that…I’m going to adapt, maybe, and see what I can come up with. thanks for the inspiration…and the temptation!
That seems like a lot of obstacles. Let me know what creative solution you can find!